smokey

Now that I'm exiled to the porch, I keep thinking about incense and smoking. The initial correspondence is obvious--I have to go outside, because my wife doesn't like the smell or the associated effects of my habit. What's more, she's worried about it permeating everything in the house. I worry about the smell clinging to my clothes and bothering her when I come back inside. I have to watch out for getting ashes on things. When you think about it, the blowing on the charcoal to keep it lit, the container (that can be carried around), the smoke, the scent--aside from direct inhalation, it's almost like smoking a pipe. In fact, in a pinch, you could probably use a pipe as a censer. Hmmm . . .

Anyway, it's got me wondering whether smokers adapt better to this particular aspect of Orthodox worship than non-smokers. Not that I've ever smoked anything in my life (though I did spend a lot of my youth inhaling the smoke and fumes of burning papers)--but would it be easier on Julie if she had?

One thing I'm finding--burning incense tends to make me pray longer. I'm so cheap, I hate to waste anything. It's hard to re-light the stuff, so I tend to keep at it until the incense burns out on its own. I guess that's a good thing--anything for more prayer, right?